Kevin Durant Ruthlessly Trolls Thunder Over 2025 NBA Title: 'Bout Time'

Kevin Durant looks set to be in attendance when the Oklahoma City Thunder raise their championship banner, with his Houston Rockets reportedly facing them on opening night of the 2025-26 season. With that in mind, a Thunder fan tried to mock Durant by asking what his mental state would be in that moment, and he responded by trolling his former team on X.

"Finally. It’s been 10 years, bout time they win one lmaooo."

Durant, who infamously left the Thunder in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors, struck a nerve with that comment. A fan suggested it was a low blow to disrespect the team in this manner after they finally won a title, and the 15-time All-Star made it clear he was just having some fun. 

"My god, talk a little s*** back. It’s not that serious."

Durant has no reason whatsoever to be upset about the Thunder finally winning the championship in 2025. He won two of them in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors, so it's not like he is losing much sleep over this.

This wouldn't really even be a topic if not for the NBA deciding to pit the Rockets against the Thunder on opening night. It's quite an interesting decision that has been made. 

Sure, the Rockets with Durant are viewed as one of the biggest threats to the Thunder in their quest to repeat, but there's no real rivalry between these teams. The Denver Nuggets would have been the ideal pick after taking the eventual champions to seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals last season.

So, one can assume that the Durant storyline might have played a part here. The fact that it's been almost 10 years since he left and the fans are still upset lets you know how big a blow it was to them.

The Seattle SuperSonics had selected Durant with the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, and the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. He would lead the new franchise to the Western Conference Finals in 2011 and the NBA Finals in 2012.

Durant and the Thunder would lose to the Miami Heat in five games in the 2012 NBA Finals, but you'd have thought they were certainly getting back there at some point. It would never happen, though.

The Thunder lost in the Conference Finals in 2014 and then again in 2016. They blew a 3-1 lead against the Warriors in 2016, and Durant decided it was time for him to go. Leaving was bad enough, but joining the team that had just beaten him made it worse.

Durant has spoken at length about his decision to leave the Thunder and join the Warriors. The 2014 NBA MVP claims he was tired of playing in that system and felt he could develop his game better with the move.

While Durant won two titles with the Warriors, he hasn't come close to adding another one to his resume since leaving them in 2019. The 36-year-old's most recent stint with the Phoenix Suns turned out to be a failure, and it will be interesting to see what he can accomplish with the Rockets. They will get a chance to make an early statement when they take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder on Oct. 21.